Sixth-Inning Rally Helps Mets Edge the Phillies

PHILADELPHIA — During the Mets’ batting practice Tuesday, General Manager Sandy Alderson was milling about the dugout when a young boy called out to him, asking for an autograph. Alderson paused for a moment, surprised by the request. Then he signed the boy’s baseball with a Sharpie, the way the players do, and tossed the ball back, smiling.

Alderson is a popular man these days. He was the one who acquired Yoenis Cespedes, Juan Uribe, Kelly Johnson and Tyler Clippard at the nonwaiver trade deadline. Those moves revamped the Mets’ offense and bullpen — and changed the trajectory of their season.

“Thank you, Sandy Alderson!” the boy said.

The Mets’ offense is versatile now, capable of getting contributions from any part of the lineup or bench while blowing teams out or, as on Tuesday, coming from behind. The offense won another game as the Mets edged the Phillies, 6-5, improved their record to 69-56 and maintained a five-and-half-game lead in the National League East.

Cespedes hit a two-run homer. Noah Syndergaard smacked an R.B.I. double off the right-field wall. And several players keyed a three-run sixth inning rally to take the lead.

The offense had to compensate for another enigmatic start from Syndergaard on the road. Syndergaard has struggled away from Citi Field since he joined the Mets’ rotation. His road E.R.A. entering this start was 5.05, and the Mets have been experimenting in an effort to get better performances from him.

They had tinkered with Syndergaard’s pregame routine and had reiterated that he needed to establish his secondary pitches early on, so he would not be as predictable. Before this start, Dan Warthen, the pitching coach, worked with him on tweaking his mechanics.

“We just focused on being a lot more relaxed in my setup, in my windup,” Syndergaard said. “Just being a little quick. Not being so methodical.”

As a result, Syndergaard said, he threw free and easy and felt as if he had much more life on his fastball. And he overpowered the Phillies early on. He retired the side in order in the first inning on 12 pitches, and he struck out the side in the second. He looked the way he often does pitching at Citi Field, where he has a 1.82 E.R.A. in nine starts this year.

Three mental lapses cost Syndergaard in the third inning. He threw four consecutive fastballs to Carlos Ruiz, who hit a leadoff double. Syndergaard fell behind in the count to Freddy Galvis and Ryan Howard, and threw them each belt-high fastballs that they hit for two-run homers.

Syndergaard finished the game with nine strikeouts, the second-most he has had on the road this season. But he lasted only five innings on 96 pitches, and entering the sixth inning, the Mets still trailed, 4-3.

“I have all the faith in him,” Collins said. “When he goes out there, you think, ‘This guy might throw a no-hitter.’ ”

The Mets rallied in the sixth, showing poise and patience as they loaded the bases with two outs. Johnson singled, Daniel Murphy and Michael Conforto took walks, and Travis d’Arnaud battled back from a 1-2 count and worked a bases-loaded walk to tie the score.

The Mets’ offensive resurgence started July 25, the day Johnson and Uribe arrived via trade. Before then, the Mets had one of the worst offenses in the majors. Injuries had ravaged their lineup, and their bench had been full of unreliable options. As a result, they had scored about 3.4 runs a game.

Since that date, over their last 28 games, the Mets’ lineup has lengthened, their bench has deepened, and they have scored 6.1 runs a game. Their power statistics — 51 home runs, 75 doubles and 171 runs scored — rank among the best in the majors over that span.

Collins kept Uribe, Johnson, Conforto and Curtis Granderson out of the starting lineup Monday night — and the Mets still scored 16 runs and tallied 20 hits. At one point in the game, Collins said, he looked down his bench, searching for a pinch-hitter, and thought, “My God.”

On Tuesday, then, with the bases loaded with two outs in the sixth inning, Collins called on Michael Cuddyer to pinch-hit, and he delivered a two-run single that gave the Mets a 6-4 lead — and gave Syndergaard his first road victory.

The win improved the Mets’ record to 10-1 against Philadelphia, and so the Phillies apparently felt a bit frustrated. In the seventh inning, Larry Bowa, their bench coach, shouted profanities toward Mets players, apparently because Hansel Robles, a Met reliever, had thrown a pitch when a Phillies player was not looking. The Mets converged on the infield, expecting the benches to clear, but they never did.

At one point, Bowa appeared to single out Murphy, who had flipped his bat Monday after a home run. Bowa pointed to his side, as if to indicate that Murphy would be hit by a pitch in retaliation. Ultimately, the game ended without the situation escalating.

“I know what we’re concerned with in this clubhouse,” Murphy said, “and that’s playing good baseball.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B11 of the New York edition with the headline: Syndergaard Struggles, but Offense Carries Mets Again . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe